A rocket blasts off from a mobile launch platform in the Yellow Sea off east China’s Shandong province.

China on June 5, 2019 launched a rocket from a mobile platform at sea for the first time, sending five commercial satellites and two others containing experimental technology into space.

The Long March 11 rocket blasted off from a launch pad aboard a commercial ship in the Yellow Sea off the coast of Shandong province, marking the 306th launch of a rocket in the Long March series, but the first one at sea.

China is the third country after the US and Russia to master sea launch technology.

Why Sea Launch Technology?

Sea launches offer advantages such as the ability to position closer to the equator, requiring less fuel to reach orbit and thereby lowering overall launch costs. They also reduce the possibility of damage on the ground from falling rocket debris.

And with sea launches, China now has the ability to deploy satellites from a mobile platform.

Most recently, Russian-backed firm Sea Launch used a floating platform to launch dozens of rockets between 1999 and 2014.

According to Russian company Energia, the majority shareholder in Sea Launch, launching from sea has a number of advantages, such as the ability to send off rockets from a variety of locations on Earth, as well as reduced costs and risks.

The official Xinhua News Agency cited experts as saying seaborne launch technology will meet the growing demand for launches of low inclination satellites.

Growth of China’s Space Program

China’s space program has developed rapidly, especially since it conducted its first crewed mission in 2003, becoming just the third country following Russia and the US to put humans into space using its own technology.

It has put two space stations in orbit and plans to launch a Mars rover in the mid-2020s. Its space program suffered a rare setback last year with the failed launch of a Long March 5 rocket.

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China launches first rocket from mobile platform at sea

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A rocket blasts off from a mobile launch platform in the Yellow Sea off east China's Shandong province.

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